Checking a Student's Email: Three Errors and One Sentence to Leave Alone
Haruka is preparing an email to her teacher, Mr. Brown, about a class project. She has marked four parts (A)–(D) and asked you to check them before she sends it.
Dear Mr. Brown, Thank you for lending our group the documentary DVD. (A) One of my classmate has taken it home to watch with her family. (B) I have joined the film club since last April, so I can bring a projector if you need one. (C) If I will finish the poster by Thursday, I will leave it at the staff room. (D) The news about the contest was a surprise to all of us. Please tell me whether you received my earlier message. Sincerely, Haruka Ito
Mr. Brown's comment on her previous email was: "Please keep the tone formal and do not add information I did not ask for."
1. Exactly one of (A)–(D) needs no change. Identify it, then correct the other three and name the rule behind each correction.
Read the worked answer
No change needed: (D). "News" ends in -s but is an uncountable singular noun, so "was" is correct. This is the over-correction trap: a student who sees -s and "fixes" it to "were" creates an error.
(A) Two errors. "One of my classmate" → "one of my classmates": the pattern one of + plural noun. The verb then agrees with one, not with classmates, so "has" → "have"? No - with "one of my classmates," the subject is one, so "has" is correct. The single fix is classmates. A student who changes the verb has applied the plural noun to the wrong word.
(B) Tense/aspect. "I have joined the club since last April" is impossible: join is a momentary action and cannot run "since" a past point. Fix: "I joined the film club last April" or "I have been a member of the film club since last April."
(C) First conditional. The if-clause takes present simple, not will: "If I finish the poster by Thursday…" The future marker belongs only in the main clause.
2. Haruka wants to rewrite (B) twice: once keeping "since" and once without it. Give both versions, keeping the meaning and the formal tone, and state what must NOT change.
Read the worked answer
Version 1 (with since): "I have been a member of the film club since last April, so I can bring a projector if you need one."
- Since requires a state or repeated activity that continues to now, so the verb becomes have been a member rather than have joined.
Version 2 (without since): "I joined the film club last April, so I can bring a projector if you need one."
- A finished action at a past point takes the past simple with last April. No since.
What must not change:
- The meaning: both versions say the membership began in April and continues. Version 2 does not state that it continues, but it does not deny it either, so it remains acceptable.
- The tone: no contractions ("I've"), no casual additions such as "by the way."
- The information: the offer of the projector stays. Adding a reason she joined, or a comment about the DVD, would break Mr. Brown's "do not add information I did not ask for" instruction.
3. Haruka drafts a new sentence: "My little sister also watched the DVD and loved it, so maybe you could lend it to her class next." Using Mr. Brown's comment, decide whether to include it and justify your decision.
Read the worked answer
Do not include it.
Reasoning against:
- It adds information he did not ask for. Mr. Brown asked about a class project. A sister's opinion and a request to lend the DVD to another class are new topics, not answers.
- It changes the purpose of the email. The email currently reports on the project and asks one question (whether he received the earlier message). Adding a second request means he must answer two things, one of which he never invited.
- It shifts the tone. "Maybe you could lend it to her class next" is a request dressed as a remark. In a formal email to a teacher, requests should be direct and clearly separated, not slipped in.
The one argument for including it - that a teacher might welcome the enthusiasm - does not survive the explicit instruction. When a teacher states a rule about what to include, a student's guess about his preferences does not override it. If Haruka genuinely wants to ask about lending, she should send a separate, clearly worded request.